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Jeremy Bonderman is no more a Mariner, having just been designated for assignment. Taking his roster spot for the time being is reliever Lucas Luetge, but he, or someone else from the bullpen, is sure to go shortly for Bonderman’s rotation replacement. Erasmo Ramirez is the obvious choice, but I suppose there are other feasible options like returning Blake Beavan to a starting role.

I was at Bonderman’s last home start, Sunday versus the Cubs. I haven’t attended many games this season, but somehow that one felt very typical of the 2013 Mariners. The Mariners, including Ibanez, hit some dingers, but three home runs directly resulted in only four runs scored and the Mariners batted 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position while the Cubs went 5-for-11. I ended up spending a decent amount of the middle innings just wandering around the stadium as the Mariners were getting worked over by Edwin Jackson. In the end, they made it exciting, but in the end, they also lost. It was a very fitting game.

Batter

PA

P/PA

Slash line

nBB

K (sw)

1B/2B/3B/HR

Sw-

Ct+

Qual+

K Seager*

51

4.0

.311/.373/.622

5

8 (7)

8 / 2 / 0 / 4

95

111

141

R Ibanez*

45

4.0

.341/.435/.707

4

8 (7)

8 / 1 / 1 / 4

90

97

128

N Franklin^

45

3.7

.295/.311/.477

1

12 (10)

9 / 2 / 0 / 2

103

99

129

K Morales^

44

3.7

.250/.318/.450

4

10 (9)

6 / 2 / 0 / 2

108

92

120

E Chavez*

43

3.4

.205/.295/.256

4

4 (4)

6 / 2 / 0 / 0

99

101

105

M Zunino

38

3.2

.189/.237/.216

1

7 (5)

6 / 1 / 0 / 0

118

91

93

J Smoak^

37

4.2

.333/.447/.667

4

10 (6)

6 / 2 / 0 / 3

91

105

150

B Miller*

35

3.9

.200/.314/.400

5

9 (9)

2 / 2 / 2 / 0

111

97

117

D Ackley*

29

3.9

.185/.241/.259

2

6 (4)

3 / 2 / 0 / 0

101

95

94

J Bay

22

4.3

.222/.391/.722

4

5 (3)

1 / 0 / 0 / 3

65

90

130

Raul Ibanez continues to rake home runs. It’s comical at this point how effective of a hitting season he’s had and less comical how expectedly bad of a fielding season he’s had. I doubt anyone reading this believes it, but I do know that there are people out there who legitimately feel that “we” would “rather be right” about Ibanez than see the Mariners win because he does well. That’s ludicrous and a line of thought that I find reflects remarkably poorly on the opinion-haver. It’s not new, one way or another it gets hurled at us from time to time with the exact subject changing over the years. It’s completely wrong.

To be blunt, I want the Mariners to win. That’s priority one through like seventeen. I don’t even particularly care how they go about winning. Okay? Full stop.

Now, I, through my research and analysis of baseball, have my theories about how a team is best assembled for sustained winning. Therefore, I disagree with the Mariners when they make moves contrary to those theories. And I don’t want a bad process to become entrenched because of random success. That is not the same as rooting for the team to lose nor is it the same as wanting to be proven right above all else. If given the choice, I want the Mariners to succeed by doing the sorts of things I think are best. If not given that choice, I just want the Mariners to succeed.

Batter

PA

P/PA

Slash line

nBB

SO (sw)

1B/2B/3B/HR

Sw-

Ct+

Qual+

J Ellsbury*

56

3.5

.373/.429/.490

5

5 (5)

15 / 3 / 0 / 1

101

111

72

D Pedroia

54

4.1

.383/.444/.574

6

6 (5)

12 / 4 / 1 / 1

87

112

138

S Victorino^

49

3.9

.286/.306/.449

0

9 (8)

7 / 6 / 1 / 0

101

105

101

J Iglesias

47

3.7

.318/.362/.364

3

5 (3)

12 / 2 / 0 / 0

98

115

67

M Napoli

45

4.6

.237/.356/.342

7

15 (13)

7 / 1 / 0 / 1

88

92

107

D Nava^

43

4.1

.415/.419/.488

1

9 (5)

14 / 3 / 0 / 0

88

106

99

D Ortiz*

41

4.3

.297/.457/.486

4

8 (7)

6 / 4 / 0 / 1

100

104

131

J Saltalamacchia^

38

4.1

.303/.410/.424

5

14 (13)

6 / 4 / 0 / 0

98

81

140

B Snyder

22

4.0

.273/.273/.500

0

6 (6)

3 / 2 / 0 / 1

117

89

133

J Gomes

20

4.1

.421/.500/.737

1

3 (2)

4 / 3 / 0 / 1

91

107

125

MARINERS

ΔMs

RED SOX

EDGE

INFIELD

-3.1 (17th)

-0.7

13.6 (8th)

Red Sox

OUTFIELD

-11.1 (23rd)

3.4

16.4 (7th)

Red Sox

RBBIP

0.315 (21st)

-.001

0.292 (2nd)

Red Sox

OVERALL

-14.2 (24th)

2.6

30.0 (2nd)

RED SOX

08 JUL 19:10 – FELIX HERNANDEZ vs JON LESTER*

09 JUL 19:10 – HISASHI IWAKUMA vs ALLEN WEBSTER

Webster is new, having made only five starts thus far. He mixes his pitches well and is running a fantastically low contact rate, but you’ll see, so is his strike rate.

Comments

Thanks, Matthew, for the great previews! But I notice you seem to be missing a pitching graph for “TBA”…
(I was really hoping to see how he/she/it stacked up to Ryan – with both being righties. Do you feel that TBA’s command-and-or-control-and-or-velocity will be a factor in this important start of his/her/its career?)

Eastside Suds on
July 8th, 2013 2:23 pm

Interestingly, the Sox have the best team OBA and 2nd highest team BA, but also the highest strikeout totals in the American League. To beat this team, you CAN NOT walk batters or get behind in the count. That is common for any team, but especially for this years’ Red Sox.

Also can’t wait to see TBA pitch. Call-up from AA??? Bet the guy is MONEY!!

Hopefully Felix can keep Pedroia and Napoli relatively silent and keep the speedsters off base (they lead the AL in SB’s).Especially Ellsbury. He’s a demon on the bases. Ortiz has to be pitched very carefully as he is the one who can hurt you in bunches.

Bottom line is we have to play solid defense, throw strikes and score some runs. 3 runs a game is not going to cut it against this Boston team.

McExpos on
July 8th, 2013 2:32 pm

I actually do believe there are some fans out there who would rather see the Mariners fail than Ibanez do well. I think there are some who would like to see the current management replaced and view Ibanez’s onslaught of HRs as decreasing the chances of a regime change (positive reinforcement of a negative process, if you will). I don’t think this is inherently good or bad, it’s just probably how some people feel. As someone on LL quipped the other day, the heart hates who it hates.

Does that mean I can still be a rational Mariners fan or do I have to turn in my gun and my badge?

globalalpha on
July 8th, 2013 2:38 pm

Isn’t it obvious? TBA = Taijuan Bad Ass

Eastside Suds on
July 8th, 2013 2:38 pm

Many M’s fans believe that way Mc. Its just that the Mariners give us so little hope of being relevant past May every year that we look for temporary “silver linings” to even force ourselves to keep watching. Its a sad case and the fans (en masse) need to expect so much more from the ownership and current administration.

I’m a huge fan, but I’d rather have a relevant team and be watching standings this time of year rather than witness Raul’s geriatric feats of grandeur. But, that’s just me.

Eastside Suds on
July 8th, 2013 2:39 pm

Nice Global. That could actually stick. You will get the credit.

globalalpha on
July 8th, 2013 2:48 pm

Got my fingers crossed! Actually I can’t believe they would realistically bring Taijuan up this soon. But I would enjoy watching it.

Milendriel on
July 8th, 2013 3:24 pm

If the team is using results to validate a bad process, then it’s perfectly rational to want them to lose–or to want players who represent that bad process to fail–because that’s the only way the process will change.

Westside guy on
July 8th, 2013 4:02 pm

The problem with Raul is people seem to feel you have to be either/or. Either Raul should be playing exactly has he has been used this year, or he should be sucking and rotting on the bench.

Raul is hitting amazingly well – but in every game he plays in left field he gives back a good chunk of that value. On an intelligently constructed roster, there wouldn’t be 4 other 1B/DH types and Raul could be allowed to DH (or play 1B) most of the time.

When I point that out, though, a significant number of people interpret it as “you hate Raul”. I don’t hate Raul – I hate how he’s being used, and I hate the flawed thought process that constructed a roster which pretty much forces him to be used in the manner Wedge does.

Longgeorge1 on
July 8th, 2013 4:05 pm

One of the downsides of getting deep in the count is strikeouts. Last night Jared Weaver was getting his pitch count elevated by the Sox the first couple innings but around the third he started hitting his spots and was getting ahead of the “patient” BoSox hitters and dominated. A pitcher needs to be patient just like the hitters. Once they develop a rhythm they can attack the zone .Boston hitters will wait for their pitch before swinging. The trick is to get ahead of the hitters without serving up meatballs.

raul_podzednick on
July 8th, 2013 4:17 pm

GLORY HALLELUJAH BONDERMAN DFA’D!!!!

LH sock puppet on
July 8th, 2013 4:22 pm

Eastside Suds and Westside guy–
Will you two ever meet?

JasonJ on
July 8th, 2013 4:27 pm

Yeah the thought that M’s fans are upset that Raul is having an amazing offensive season, especially for his age, is ridiculous.

I’m upset that our roster was constructed in such a way that he’s playing the field on a regular basis, period. Forget advanced statistics or whatever you want to call it. Watch a game on television and it’s obvious he’s a liability in the field and his value is being diminished because he’s giving runs back to the opposing team.

If our FO had signed an actual outfielder in the offseason we would be enjoying Raul’s prolific power so much more because we wouldn’t be watching the 1-0 lead soon become 1-1 because our defense in the outfield is so terrible.

henryv on
July 8th, 2013 4:36 pm

The M’s currently have 39 on the 40 man roster. Additionally the only 2 OFers that aren’t in the majors on the 40 man are Carlos fucking Peguero and Julio Morban.

So, basically, the M’s are only one Raul Ibanez vs. Michael Saunders collision away from Julio Morban and Carlos Peguero being in the majors, and one of them being a starter.

With that thought, I see them them adding an OF to the 40 man. Probably Thames, but maybe Almonte or Romero… I don’t know all that much about the 40 man rules…

californiamariner on
July 8th, 2013 4:38 pm

And it’s confirmed! Erasmo coming up! Finally!

henryv on
July 8th, 2013 4:39 pm

That is the real problem, Jason.

We gave up an left-handed starter and a left-handed catcher for two DH’s, and we added Raul, too.

There are, effectively, 3 players on this team that have no legit position other than DH. And unless the AL decides to let the M’s play softball rules, this roster construction at the MLB level does kinda suck.

However, what it does allow them to do is spend a shit load of money at the end of the year to fill those OF voids.

Glad to hear that we’ll see Erasmo. Clearly they need some outfield depth on the 40 man, but it won’t be Thames (he is now in the Baltimore organization). How is Romero looking recently?

henryv on
July 8th, 2013 4:43 pm

And it’s confirmed! Erasmo coming up! Finally!

Any word on who will be going back down? Is Luetge going up for just 2 days? Or is it Capps?

henryv on
July 8th, 2013 4:43 pm

Oh, shoot. Forgot about Thames. Duh.

californiamariner on
July 8th, 2013 4:45 pm

Henry, I don’t know. I’m sure that’s something they don’t want to tell the guy ahead of time. My guess would be Luetge but I don’t really know.

Westside guy on
July 8th, 2013 4:52 pm

Eastside Suds and Westside guy–
Will you two ever meet?

That would violate causality and, as such, must never be allowed to happen.

Eastside Suds on
July 8th, 2013 5:23 pm

It would totally disrupt the delicate balance of the baseball universe. The exerted force would no doubt cause ERA’s to baloon and ground ball rates to vanish completely. OPS rates would become irrelevant. Oh the Horror!!!

Sowulo on
July 8th, 2013 9:38 pm

Romero was 3-5 with a grandslam and 5 RBI today. Now hitting .303 for the year.